Listen now (29 mins) | Listen Now Since the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic remains, as the The New England Journal of Medicine termed last week, laconic, the US response continues to be best understood at the state level. California immediately comes to mind for obvious reasons. Among others, it has a population of 40 million or 12% of the nation’s total (and if it was its own nation, would constitute the world’s fifth largest economy). To date, California has limited COVID-19 related deaths to 4,250 or 4% of total COVID-19 related US deaths - notwithstanding having a substantial homeless population (approximately 20% of the nation's total).